Joanne Mackarey Coyne's face lit up as she was lowered into and then pulled from the water. Any trace of pain or discomfort disappeared from her visage as she gave herself over to the overwhelming emotion of the spiritual moment.

It was perhaps the strongest testament to her faith and the most touching part of her journey to the shrine of Lourdes in France, said family and friends who accompanied the inspiring mother of four.

"Joanne lifted her head and just beamed," said John Schweska, a member of the Knights of Malta and one of her personal aides for the trip. "The rest of us were crying. When she got out of the bath, her whole body was full of light. She had a smile that could launch a thousand ships. She just had the most radiant smile."

The Taylor resident's visit to the site of a spring in the grotto in France where it is said the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared numerous times to a 14-year-old girl was made possible by the Order of Malta.

Annual voyage

Each year, the Order of Malta, which includes many residents of Northeast Pennsylvania like JoAnne Keuhner, D.M., and her husband, Carl Kuehner, K.M., who maintain residences in the Poconos and Naples, Fla., accepts nominations of local people with maladies. Individuals who are ill or otherwise handicapped hope to go with the group to Lourdes to experience a spiritual awakening, and perhaps even be affected by the purported healing properties of the spring.

Mrs. Kuehner, who has made the pilgrimage for 13 years, said she was surprised this past year when she received two nominations for a single person: Mrs. Coyne, who was profiled in The Sunday Times in 2011 when her daughter Rosemarie wrote the winning essay for the Mother's Day edition contest that sought an extraordinary local mom.

Mrs. Coyne suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, and has seen her share of health problems since her diagnosis six years ago. She has been rendered incapable of moving easily or speaking without assistance from her husband and four children.

"She is so special," Mrs. Kuehner said of Mrs. Coyne, who was approved by doctors to take part in the trip from May 2 to 8. "She generates so much excitement. She's something else, this woman."

Mrs. Coyne, a very devout woman, was immediately interested in joining the pilgrimage, her family said. Her interest can be traced to her childhood, when she watched a movie about St. Bernadette with her late sister, Linda, that resonated deeply with the young girls and stayed with them through life.

"Joanne fell in love with St. Bernadette," Mrs. Coyne's husband, Brian, said. Mr. Coyne, along with the couple's second oldest daughter, Sadie, 23, accompanied Mrs. Coyne and the order to Lourdes and insisted they saw a remarkable difference in Mrs. Coyne as a result of the trip.

"She was different over there. Everything we did, she took it all in. She experienced it all," Sadie explained. "The emotions came after when we got back.

"There was a lot of time to think about what's on your mind, what's in your heart. I always wondered why my mom's faith was so strong. She got closer to God."

Charioteer awaits

Aiding the Coynes was Mr. Schweska, K.M., a newly appointed Knight of the Order from New Jersey. Mr. Schweska had volunteered to be a pilgrimage charioteer (one who pushes a wheelchair-bound person for the daily three to four miles of processions up and down hills). As a matter of chance, he was randomly assigned to Mrs. Coyne. The first time he met the family was at the airport just before boarding the plane to France, but the pairing seemed meant to be as a true kinship developed.

"It's an honor but a burden to be committed," Mr. Schweska said of his knighthood. "It's like the Olympics of goodwill."

His own faith was reaffirmed when he met Mrs. Coyne, he added.

"It was so inspiring to see her faith. She did ministry with her presence," Mr. Schweska insisted. "In Lourdes, the malades are first-class citizens. They are treated like royalty. (People) would tell me, 'You're so lucky to have her.'"

Sadie agreed that the treatment bestowed on her mother and the countless afflicted others was extremely moving.

"(My mom) couldn't believe how nice people were. A lot of people shy away from the handicap," Sadie said. "She didn't feel sick over there. When you're there surrounded by all these people, you understand why.

"She said she felt really close to God, and she liked how all the people of the world came together, how there were so many people in one place praying," she added.

"I believe I have seen a little bit of heaven because JoAnne and Carl (Keuhner) give their life for other people, and they are happy to do it, and all the people from Malta are the same," Mrs. Coyne communicated via text message. "I thank God I had the pleasure of meeting them. I pray my children will live like this."

Mrs. Coyne did her share of helping others while on the trip as well, by taking along letters from those who could not make the pilgrimage to be delivered to Our Lady's mailbox, where it is believed the prayers will be heard. The Coynes also brought home almost 80 containers of holy water, which they have given away to friends, family and church members.

"(Joanne) brought blessings to people she never met before," Mr. Coyne said. It's no surprise, he added, for a woman who has largely defied the odds of her disease to continue raising her children.

"She's on a spiritual mission to make sure her family grows up the way she wants," Mr. Coyne said, citing the apparent slowdown of her ALS progression. "As far as the trip ... it's powerful to pray with that many people. You can feel it. It was incredibly spiritual to see Joanne with that look and that smile. It made it worth everything in the world. It's life-changing."

Sadie agreed that visiting Lourdes served a greater purpose for her mother.

"She's not worried or confused because she knows what God has planned for her," she explained. "I think she feels peaceful."

Contact the writer: pwilding@timesshamrock.com, @pwildingTT on Twitterabout the Order of Malta

American Association of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, approved at the request of Pope Pius XI, was installed on April 28, 1927, with headquarters in New York City. It became the 10th National Association of the Order and the first in the Western Hemisphere.

The Order of Malta is a worldwide, lay, religious order of the Roman Catholic Church, which seeks to glorify God by promoting the sanctification of each member through his or her work with the sick and the poor and defense of the Catholic faith.

From its small beginnings, it has grown to approximately 1,700 knights and dames. Women were first welcomed into the association in 1985.

Knights and dames assist a broad number of charitable projects financially and with their hands-on volunteer efforts. The association has participated in the annual Order of Malta Pilgrimage to Lourdes since 1986.

Source: From www.maltausa.org The holy site of lourdes

Near the prime meridian in France, in the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains and alongside the river Gave de Pau, lies Lourdes, an area famous throughout the world for the reported sightings of the Blessed Virgin Mary before St. Bernadette Soubirous in the late 1850s.

Our Lady of Lourdes, as she came to be called, was said to have appeared some 18 times to the then 14-year-old Bernadette in a natural grotto rock formation, which has become the site of religious pilgrimages since those Marian apparitions. So strong is the belief that the spring water from the grotto has healing powers because of this miraculous occurrence, the site attracts millions of pious worshippers each year.

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